Planet of Pain (25 page)

It was huge and luxuriously furnished, with a thick burgundy carpet, a bar, and an entertainment console that put
Firefly
's flight deck to shame. There were glass-topped tables, chairs, and half a dozen big couches. There were gilt-framed pictures and mirrors on every wall, and even crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, though Jo dreaded to think what happened to those during sharp manoeuvres. Her first thought was that the place resembled the lobby of an expensive hotel. Her second, as she looked again at the gaudy fittings, was that it was more like a high-class brothel. It even had a madam.

Annamarie Krafft was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman Jo had ever set eyes on. Tall and elegant, with long golden hair, perfect complexion, and a figure to die for, clearly seen through her diaphanous silver gown, she made Jo feel like a scarecrow left out in the field for ten years. As to her age – twenty-eight, maybe? Definitely no more than thirty. From what Minassian had said, Jo had somehow expected her to be considerably older.

Annamarie stood in the middle of the room, a drink in her slender hand. There was no sign of her brother, Sigismund, but there were two other people present, one ordinary, one anything but. The first was a woman, thin, fifty-ish, and simply dressed in a belted grey tunic. She stood to one side, her hands clasped before her, wearing a somewhat sour expression on her rather plain face.

The second was a man; the biggest, broadest man Jo had ever set eyes on. Boss' bodyguards were positive midgets compared to this creature. He stood at Annamarie's shoulder, his huge arms folded across his massive chest. He was wearing nothing but a black leather thong that left little to the imagination. Jo half expected some muttered comment from Stella, but for once she behaved herself.

Minassian stopped five paces short of his client, and Jo and the others lined up behind him as instructed. Once the shuffling of feet had ceased Minassian affected a stiff bow.

‘Greetings, lady,' he said. ‘I brought you four, as you see. More than usual, I know, but they're prime stock and I'm confident you'll find them most satisfactory.'

Annamarie smiled, and grew even more beautiful. ‘Minassian,' she said in a honeyed contralto, ‘you're a rogue. This is just a ploy to up the price, admit it.'

‘Not at all,' Minassian said quickly, smiling broadly in return. ‘I've far too much respect for your intelligence to try any such shenanigans. And, as a token of that respect, I have a small gift for my most treasured, and without a doubt my most
beautiful
client. Fosnian chocolates; your favourites, as I recall.'

He held out the gift-wrapped box he'd brought with him, and at a sign from Annamarie the woman in grey stepped forward and relieved him of it. She started to take it away, but Annamarie gestured again and helped herself to a chocolate. Despite the smile Minassian seemed nervous, though Jo couldn't imagine why that should be if he knew this woman as well as he claimed.

‘In that case I take it all back,' Annamarie said, laughing softly. She declined another chocolate and waved the woman away. ‘No rogue, though a flatterer, certainly. Now then, to business. Let me see the merchandise.'

Minassian turned and nodded. The disrobing was a somewhat ragged affair, as Jo and Eli hesitated briefly, while Bel and Stella didn't.

‘Interesting,' Annamarie said, her eyes drifting along the line. ‘Most interesting, and more than a little unusual, yes?'

She stepped forward, and the bodyguard moved too, staying close to her shoulder. He carried no weapons that Jo could see, and the thong allowed no possibility for concealment, but then he probably didn't need any weapon other than his hands.

Annamarie went first to Stella, on the left-hand end of the line. ‘And you are?'

‘Stella, madam.'

‘You must address me as “mistress”,' Annamarie said, ‘do you understand?'

‘Yes, mistress.'

Annamarie nodded, and proceeded to look her up and down. She raised her hands and plucked at Stella's nipples, squeezing and pulling them. She seemed faintly amused though she made no comment, but moved on instead to Bel, standing next in line.

‘And who might you be?'

‘Bel, mistress.'

‘What a truly remarkable figure,' Annamarie said.

Her fingernails glittered silver, and Jo saw that bar one they were long and filed to sharp points. The exception was the middle finger of her right hand, whose nail was clipped short. It was with her index finger, however, that she prodded Bel's breasts. ‘Can these be real, I wonder?' she mused. ‘Normally I don't allow bigger breasts than mine onboard, but it's my brother's birthday next week and I'm feeling magnanimous. I don't doubt at all that he's just going to love having you.' She moved on again.

‘Josephine, mistress,' Jo answered, when prompted.

‘Josephine,' Annamarie said softly, playing with the sound as it passed her lips. ‘Yes indeed.' Their eyes locked, Annamarie's large and impossibly blue, but there was something else – something most strange. It was as if the woman's eyes were older than the rest of her, the expression in them, as if they'd witnessed things no thirty year-old could possibly have seen.

Annamarie reached up and stroked Jo's cheek, and throat, and breasts. Jo tensed, expecting lacerations, but Annamarie used the flat of her hand and those daunting fingernails never touched her skin. She then reached around and patted Jo's bottom.

‘I think we shall have some fun, you and I,' the woman murmured. Her hand drifted around in front once more and then it came; a sharp prick precisely on Jo's clitoris, whose hips jerked back and she swallowed the whimper that rose in her throat.

Annamarie laughed softly, her eyes sparkling, and moved on. Jo found she was trembling. The last time she'd felt as disturbed as this was in the Harpies' cabin, as she watched Kym and Fran ‘tool-up'.

‘Better and better,' Annamarie said as she regarded Eli. ‘And what might your name be?'

‘Eli, short for Elina.'

Annamarie tutted. ‘You must remember to call me “mistress”, Eli-short-for-Elina, since I'm older than you. Much older, in fact.' She glanced at Jo, who had the uncomfortable feeling the woman could read minds. Annamarie turned to Eli once more, and touched her breast. The girl pulled back and moved closer to Jo, Annamarie frowning.

‘She's been hurt, mistress,' Jo said quickly. ‘She's afraid. Please don't be angry with her.'

Annamarie regarded the two of them thoughtfully. The smile returned suddenly, and Jo was convinced she'd deduced their relationship. Those beautiful, strange eyes didn't miss a thing. The woman turned and went back to sink gracefully onto a couch, her bodyguard taking up station at her shoulder.

‘Yes indeed, Minassian,' Annamarie said, ‘a most unusual mix. I'm pleased with them, however, and shall take them. Funds will be transferred in the usual manner. Good day to you.'

The slaver bowed then turned and left; a little too quickly, perhaps, as though he couldn't wait to be gone, and Jo almost wished she was going with him.

‘Eli-short-for-Elina,' Annamarie said, ‘come and stand here, by me.' Eli didn't move. Annamarie looked at Jo and gave the briefest of nods, then turned away and addressed the woman in grey. ‘Helen,' she said, ‘go and find my brother. Tell him I have a birthday present for him.'

Annamarie had given Jo an instruction too – an indirect one but an instruction nevertheless. She leaned towards Eli and whispered in her ear. ‘Go to her, Eli; do whatever she wants. It'll be all right, I promise.'

‘She frightens me,' the girl whispered back. ‘I want to stay with you.'

Jo glanced anxiously, but Annamarie was still engaged with the other woman.

‘No,' she was saying, ‘on second thoughts don't mention a present. I want it to be a surprise. Just tell him I need to see him right away.'

‘I'll be right here,' Jo whispered. ‘You'll be fine. She likes you.'

Still Eli hesitated, and Jo began to panic.

‘I've no idea where he might be,' Annamarie went on ‘You know how he is, Helen. You could try the bridge, I suppose; or maybe he's in the library, poring over those boring books of his.'

Jo knew then she was deliberately stalling, giving Jo time to complete her allotted task so there would be no confrontation and everyone could save face. It was a subtle game they were playing here – subtle, and deadly serious. ‘Go to her, Eli,' she murmured desperately. ‘She's rich and powerful. She can protect us from nasty people who want to harm us.' It was trickery plain and simple, and Jo was ashamed of it even as she said it, for Annamarie was almost certainly one of the ‘nasty people' herself. But she felt she had little choice. One problem at a time was all she could manage, and the problem of the moment was getting Eli to obey their new mistress.

Helen went off and Annamarie turned back to them, just as Eli stepped forward, albeit reluctantly, to stand in front of her. Jo felt giddy, and wondered what would happen if she just sat on the floor for a minute to rest.

Annamarie began to run her hands over Eli, breasts, hips, and thighs. Eli glanced back at Jo anxiously, and Jo gave a tight smile, trying to reassure her. Annamarie spotted the interplay, and seemed amused by it. ‘I notice you keep looking at Josephine. Is she your friend?'

‘Yes,' Eli said. ‘She takes care of me.'

‘Yes, mistress,' Annamarie reminded her. ‘If you forget again I shall have to punish you, do you understand?'

‘Yes, mistress,' Eli whispered.

‘I hope so, young lady, for your sake.'

She rubbed between Eli's legs, and Eli shivered. Annamarie smiled. She spread the girl's labia and proceeded to stroke her clitoris, and Eli whimpered, then began to pant, her hips gyrating. ‘I see you like this,' Annamarie said. ‘Does someone do this to you? Your friend Josephine, perhaps?'

‘Yes, mistress.'

Oh hell, Jo thought. She glanced guiltily at Bel, who looked nonplussed, then astonished. Jo just shrugged. Obviously there was no way she could explain.

Annamarie slid a finger – her ‘safe' middle finger, Jo noted with relief – into Eli's anus, and Eli sobbed.

‘How does that feel?' Annamarie asked. ‘Do you like that?'

‘No', Eli moaned. ‘It hurts.'

The older woman sighed. ‘I think you're doing it on purpose, aren't you? Forgetting to say “mistress”, I mean. I told you what would happen, didn't I?' She looked around for Helen, as if she'd already forgotten sending her off on an errand. She sighed and turned to the bodyguard. ‘Fetch me the silver box, Perry,' she said. ‘It's over there, by the mirror.'

The man paused, and gave Jo, Bel and Stella a long hard look, as though warning them not to move a muscle while he was away from his station. He fetched the box in question and handed it to Annamarie, who opened it and studied the contents.

‘The red, I think,' she murmured. ‘Her bottom's very tight, at present.' She took out a phallus, slender and tolerably short, with two long red ribbons attached at the base, and as the bodyguard took the box away Annamarie pushed the rounded tip between Eli's buttocks, then pushed harder, sliding the thing fully into her rectum. Eli squealed and rose onto tiptoe. Jo was afraid she might bolt, but Annamarie kept a firm grip on her wrist and spoke sharply to her, so that there was no rebellion.

The older woman passed the ribbons up the cleft between Eli's buttocks, tied a knot level with the small of her back, brought the two ends forward around her waist, and tied them again in front. The phallus was thus held securely inside her, unable to slip out no matter what occurred.

‘You'll wear that for two hours,' Annamarie said sternly. ‘Your very first punishment, though I doubt it will be your last. You're a wilful young woman, Eli-short-for-Elina, are you not?'

‘Yes, mistress,' Eli murmured, her cheeks aflame.

‘I know it's uncomfortable, but that's what happens to young women who don't do as they're told. In a while I'll take you next door, into my playroom. I have lots of toys in there. I'll put you on the exercise machine and make you jog for a while. Then you can do some floor exercises, squats and splits and so forth. That will make your bottom hurt even more, like a proper punishment, in fact. Now come and show me how well you can lick with that little tongue of yours.'

She drew aside her filmy gown, then raised her hips and slipped off her panties, sliding them down long, shapely legs. She parted her knees and told Eli to kneel, and with some difficulty and gasps of discomfort Eli did so. She bent her face to Annamarie's groin, and began to lick.

‘Eli-short-for-Elina is just too tedious,' Annamarie murmured languidly some minutes later. ‘I think I shall call you Kitten, since you lick so prettily. Better than I expected, I have to say… but then this isn't your first time, is it? You've done this before.'

She smiled knowingly at Jo, who groaned inwardly, praying for the deck to open up and swallow her. No way would she ever be able to explain this to Bel, not in a million years.